This coming from a practicing cardiologist. He noted that he's also had problems with Nature Made fish oil. It might be best to just avoid the
brand all together. Here's a response he received after emailing the manufacturer.....

We recently received your e-mail regarding Nature Made products. We regret to
hear that the quality standards of our company. [?]

Our company is called Pharmavite, and we manufacture Nature Made nutritional
supplements. We have been in business since 1971. We are committed to quality
control, and have very high quality standards. Our Quality Control personnel
sample and test all raw materials as they enter our plant, and again assay the
finished product, before final packaging.

Dietary Supplements are regulated under the FDA through DSHEA (Dietary
Supplement Health & Education Act of 1994). The United States Pharmacopoeia
(USP) establishes standards for the composition of drugs and nutritional
supplements. This voluntary non governmental organization was set up in 1820
and has officially been recognized by federal law since 1906. Standards
established by USP for products are legally enforceable by the FDA. At
Pharmavite we participate in the USP Dietary Supplement Verification Program
(DSVP). Many of our products have earned the DSVP seal and additional products
are currently being evaluated. Our DSVP certified products will have the DSVP
seal on the product label.

Our Nature Made Vitamin D 400 IU tablets have been reviewed by the USP and bears
the DSVP symbol on the label. Although the USP has not reviewed all of the
Nature Made Vitamin D supplements, all of our products go through the same
rigorous quality testing at Pharmavite. The products which have earned the seal
help us to demonstrate the high quality of our products.

We would like to look into the product(s) your patients have been using. If you
could provide the UPC and lot numbers of the product(s), we will be happy to
review our records. In addition, if you would like us to test the product(s)
that you currently have, we will be pleased to send a prepaid postage mailer so
you may return the product(s) to us so that our Quality Control Department can
examine it. Please let us know if you would like us to send you the prepaid
postage mailer.

We thank you for contacting us and hope that you will continue to use and enjoy
Nature Made products with complete confidence.

So, if you're taking vitamin D supplements, and you should be, stay away from Nature Brand at least until a definitive answer can be provided as to
whether or not there's any vitamin D in their vitamin D supplements.

Pass the word.....if you're not aware of the consequences of vitamin D deficiency, understand that obesity, diabetes, viral infections(flu) and
especially cancer have all been associated with low blood levels of this super steroid-hormone. Over the past few years, it has replaced vitamin C as
the "super-vitamin". There's no need for people to be walking around thinking their in good health when, in actuality, they're suffering from
deficiency.

Vitamin D is an hormon and it works like an On/Off switch in a way .
You have .25-Vit-d(3) which is like an OFF switch to your immune system, and you have 1.25-Vit-d(3) which acts like an ON switch for your Immune
System..Or viseversa.. cant remember which is On or Off...

Thank you for posting this information. I just bought Nature Made Vitamin D gelcaps yesterday, along with Nature Made vitamin E gelcaps. After
checking my supplies, I also have Nature Made folic acid, multi-vitamin, St. Johns Wort and Magnesium. Now I have doubts whether I am getting what I
am paying for, and that I am not getting the supplementation I thought I was. If they are misrepresenting, I hope there is a class action lawsuit
brought against them. I'm really P O'd.

Originally posted by ChemBreather
There are two typys of vitamin D(3).

Vitamin D is an hormon and it works like an On/Off switch in a way .
You have .25-Vit-d(3) which is like an OFF switch to your immune system, and you have 1.25-Vit-d(3) which acts like an ON switch for your Immune
System..Or viseversa.. cant remember which is On or Off...

That's not entirely true, Chem. 25-dihydroyxvitamin D3, or calcifediol, is an inactive form, but is useful for measure plasma Vitamin D levels.
1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, or calcitriol, is the active form. So, calcifediol isn't any sort of "switch", it's just a precursor storage state of
vitamin D.

It is too quick to say the supplement does not contain Vitamin D as the vitamin needs some inside knowledge to be absorbed properly.

The vitamin is fat soluble meaning it is best absorbed with fatty acids like olive or fish oil.
I have taken the powdered pill version and vitamin D2 and both did not work for me as they did not contain any fat like in the gel caps.

The other point is that with a Vit D deficiency, 10.000 IU a day will not be enough to replenish the shortage.
The body makes about 20.000 IU of vitamin D3 when tanning on a sunny day for about 20 min, then how is 10.000 a day enough to restore the balance?

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